GET OVER HERE!!!! When you hear that immortal gong and the fights begin, MORTAL KOMBAT II soars into a hilarious, thrilling battle mode that screams with nostalgia for all of us who played the video game. Unfortunately, you have to sit through some pretty goofy dreck to get to those fights! There's actually a lot to like here and some absolute stand out members in the cast. We all know the plot, with a universal battle where intergalactic bad guys take over worlds if they man

THIS is the way..... The most fun I've had at a Star Wars movie in a decade, STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU took me back to summers far, far away. The opening scene is the perfect kickoff. Just when you think you're going to be immersed in one of those endless round table political discussions that George Lucas was obsessed with in his second trilogy, the film explodes into HUGE scale action that feels remarkably like a OO7 pre-title sequence. When the titles did start

Guy Ritchie is one of most prolific modern Writer/Directors. He's churning out action flicks at a pace that no one else can equal. Stuffy critics be damned, I laughed thru and enjoyed every minute of his taut new caper thriller, IN THE GREY. It starts fast and never lets up, blending an international finance operation with an Oceans 11 style escape from a very hostile island. Ritchie's deft touch at staging action, slight of hand and complicated sequences really hit their str

For four decades, Martin Short has been one of my favorites, making me laugh out loud like no other actor/comedian/singer/entertainer. Seeing him twice on Broadway in 2006 in his one man show, "Fame Becomes Me" was the hardest I've ever laughed in a New York theater. (Yes, "Book of Mormon" is a very close second.) The new documentary MARTY, LIFE IS SHORT is filled with laughter, but also, like Martin's life, with tragedy. The way he deals with those tragedies is inspiring, pr

ALL TIME TOP 100 FILMS (Review from opening night in 2022) Every time I hear Tarantino talking about his commitment to only making ten movies as a writer/director, I’m forced to consider who else is making films I look forward to with that kind of anticipation. The writer/director at the top of the list is Jordan Peele. His latest film NOPE only solidifies my position. On the surface, it’s his most accessible film, but he’s layered the story with so much nuance, excitement, a

The fascinating documentary THE BOYS details the lives of famed songwriting duo The Sherman Brothers. Suffice to say that everything in this family was not a spoonful of sugar! I was surprised by the depth of emotion and division evoked by the film. It's an intimacy that owes a lot to the documentary's co-directors, the actual sons of the two Sherman brothers, Gregory V. Sherman and Jeff Sherman. I went in expecting some behind the scenes fluff about one of Disney's most prol

Haunting and hypnotic, EXIT 8 is a twisty, unforgiving puzzle that will have you looking for clues with the same passion as its characters. We meet The Lost Man (Kazunari Ninomiya) as he boards the Japanese underground subway. His ride is uneventful except for a strange interaction he observes between a businessman and a young mother trying to comfort her crying child. He's also on a call with his girlfriend that keeps getting interrupted. As he begins his way out of the subw

55 years ago, Gene Roddenberry, the creator of "Star Trek" wrote the screenplay for an MGM sexploitation comedy/mystery. Roddenberry may have been out of work, but I would have never guessed he wrote this taboo breaking, goofy, sexy comedy. PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW stars Rock Hudson (a long way from Doris Day and "Pillow Talk" here) as high school football coach Tiger. Whenever Tiger turns on that red neon TESTING sign above his locked door, he's supposed to be testing stud

While it might not hit the highs of his "The Haunting of Hill House" or "The Fall of the House of Usher", Mike Flanagan's THE MIDNIGHT CLUB still delivers occasional thrills & chills. Spread over ten episodes (probably two or three too many from a story telling standpoint) the story structure is clever. We meet Ilonka (Iman Benson) just as she's about to enter college. After receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, she instead travels to Brightcliffe, a strange and mystery lade

Have you ever watched an "Airport" movie and wished the cast would get eaten by sharks? Your dream just came true with DEEP WATER, a disaster movie hybrid with some bloody great action but waterlogged special effects. The cast of characters is straight out of a 1970's Airport sequel. Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) is Ben, the committed First Officer trying to get one last round-trip done so he can get home to his wife and ill son. Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler's List) play